Love from afar
by Animals9990
Summary: Dick left. Aqualad became leader. But how does Babs feel about all this? Does she miss her best friend. Read to find out. Set a couple of months after Invasion. Suck at summaries. Rated just to be safe.
1. How does Babs feel?

**A/N: Here's another story. Hope you like it. It's set a couple of months after Invasion. Dick's gone Wally's dead. Even we all want him to still be alive. Me and Owlcat92 are very sad. We both loved Wally. We both loved Spitfire. Enough drabble. Enjoy the chapter.**

Babs P.O.V.

He's gone.

He's really gone. He just left. Without good- bye or when/if he was coming back. All he did was talk to Aqualad. They thought no one could hear what they were saying. They thought wrong. I may not have super-hearing like Conner/Superboy but I can certainly read lips. Wally's death had an effect on all of us. But it turns out it had a greater one on Dick. Why couldn't he have just told me?

I've been tracking him ever since he left. Seeing where he is every spare moment from the Team I can get. It's the closes I can get to him. I'm afraid if I make contact he'll just run away again. Watching him gives me a sense of relief. Knowing that he's okay. He would probably kill me if he found out. But knowing the former Boy Wonder for so long, he most likely already knows. He's mostly been riding into the middle of nowhere. Hardly using his Nightwing costume.

It's almost as if my whole world is crashing around me. Crashing into a million pieces. And no one can see it. The person I want most in the world to help me pick up all the pieces, isn't here. No one understands what I'm going through. No one has known him as long as I have. No one talks about him. It's as if something worse has happened to him. But nothing has. He's just left. Just left pretty much all technical responsibility to me. Another thing he told Kaldur and not the rest of the Team. No one even tried to stop him from leaving. Not even Bruce or Artemis. Artemis is going through the exact same thing. She lost Wally too. Bruce is practically a second father to him. And he didn't do a damn thing to stop Dick from leaving our God forsaken lives. With the slim possibility of him coming back, left. I didn't even try to stop my best friend from leaving my life for God knows how long. I'm not better that Artemis or Bruce. I thought that he'd only go for a short while to clear his head and grieve.

I was clearly wrong. I miss my best friend. The way he'd make those smart-ass comments only around me. They reminded me of when we were younger and when we used to have tons of fun together. The way he used to give me his signature smirk. I'd always secretly met on the inside. Ugh, Grayson, why can't you just send me a sign that you're okay? I'm secretly wishing that he needs my help, so that we can kick some criminal ass like we used to. Ah, the good old days. I miss them. I miss a lot of things, now that Dick's gone. I miss how he'd always give me these secret looks and how I'd know what he's thinking. We were such a great team. With Tim there to, we were unstoppable. The Batkids. There's a hole in my heart that isn't filed anymore. It's not a team without Dick and his smart-ass remarks. Every mission seems pointless without him by my side. Without him in his Nightwing suit. It's just not the same without him.

I think Tim misses him to. He might not say anything, but I know. Dick is like a big brother to him. Dick is like a big brother to all of the younger people on the Team. I secretly check up on him, every single day, whether I'm a the Watchtower or the Batcave. I just need to know that he's okay. He's my best friend and I care about him. A lot. Maybe a little too much sometimes. Ugh, who am I kidding? I like him a lot. As in more than friends. I have for awhile. Sometimes, he's just soo blind about that kind of stuff. He's dated soo many girls and he's never really liked them. All the girls just like him for his money. But I'm not all girls. I actually like him for him. For knowing that he's been through soo much on his own. He's gone through hell and back. On his own. But now, he doesn't have to go through things alone. Not while I'm with him. If he knew that, he would be here with me. But he isn't.

Right now, I'm standing in front of the holographic screens at the Watchtower. Researching some stuff from out latest mission. "Babs?" says a voice. The voice snaps me out of my long train of thought. Wait, I know that voice. How could I not know that voice? My eyes widen. Could it really be? Or is my mind playing tricks on me, like it's done soo many time before?

"Babs?" says the voice again. I spin around staring at the man behind me. I stand there. I just stand there. Staring. Trying to compose myself.

"Dick?... Is that really you?" I say slowly. I take a step towards him. He nods his head and does the same. I close that gap between us and hug him tightly, like I never want to let go. I don't want him to leave again. To leave me. My life.

"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming back for a while." I say once we pull apart, after what feels like hours, even though it'd only been minutes. I can't believe he's really here. Standing in front of me. I hope he doesn't leave again. I don't think I could bear it a second time. I don't think my heart could take it a second time.

**A/N: Hope you liked it. I actual had a goat dialogue this time. Hopefully it doesn't suck as much as I think it does. I finally wrote a story where they're all grown up. Yay. :)**


	2. Dick's side of things

**A/N: Here's the second chapter. Hope you liked the previous chapter. This is Dick's P.O.V. obviously. It's just how I write. I like to capture both sides of a story. Hope you enjoy.**

Dick's P.O.V.

I really did it.

I really just left all my friends, my team-mates, high and dry. Barbara, my best friend for years. She's been by my side for soo long. We tell each other everything. We have from the beginning. But Wally's death really did a number on me. Emotionally. And, I couldn't even tell her that. Or anyone for that matter, except Kaldur. What kind of best friend or leader am I, if I can't even tell the people I care about, what's ripping me apart inside? A part of me knows that they'll understand. But the other part is disagreeing. I even told Babs I was Robin. I didn't know how she'd react. I thought she'd just be shocked or surprised. But then she'd get over it. Eventually. Not slap me and basically shut me out of her life. She didn't talk to me for weeks. I thought I'd lost my best friend that night. That is the only other time that I've lied to her. I think I've finally come to terms with Wally's death. But, I can't seem to go back.

Maybe I'm afraid of what awaits me. Maybe I'm afraid that the Team will get mad at me for stepping down as leader and just leaving without a word. Or it's possible that I'm afraid that Babs won't accept me back into her life. Won't let me be her best friend again. If I do return I'm expecting a whole rant from Babs. But then she'll understand. But after the whole 'Telling her I was Robin' fiasco, I'm not so sure. She might slap me again and tell me never to eave her again. But it's not like we're anything more than friends. No matter what I feel, I don't think we'll be together. At least not for a while, anyway. I highly doubt that she likes me. I mean girls liker her, smart, kind, don't go for guys like me, hot, and a 'dog' as Wally would say. If I tell her it might destroy our friendship and it will become awkward for us. Especially if I become a member of the Team again. And I don't want to put that in jeopardy. I feel like apart of me is missing when I'm not with her.

She's my best friend and I miss her. Is it wrong to feel this way about my best friend? I feel like I've been longing for something since my parents died. Or that there's a hole inside of me that hasn't been filled. But with Barbara, it's almost as if she takes that feeling away and slowly begins to fill that hole. Everything's right with the world when I'm with her. I forget that I have a team I need to lead, that I have to go out on patrol later that night or that I have to wake up early for a mission. With her my problems just seem to melt away. and I like that about her. I forget I have responsibilities. I just enjoy the moment. Enjoy the time I get to spend with her. I could never tell her that she makes me happy though. She might start to insinuate something. But what if she feels the same way? Dick, that a big 'if'. I love it when she says my name. I love it when she calls me 'Grayson', 'Hunk Wonder' or even 'Pixie Boots'. Even if at the time I don't.

I love it because only she says them. They're unique to her. Every time she makes a comment towards me in from the Team, I let her get away with it. That's just what friends do, they have each other's back, have a good time and don't let them get away with anything. But it doesn't apply to us anymore because she's still on the Team and I've left. Without a single word to her, for that matter. I regret bailing on the Team that I was leading and on the girl I'm secretly in love with. I don't know how I did it for this long. How I managed to see the girl I love practically everyday and not blurt out my feelings towards her. I used to always watch her. Watch her every movement and kind of favour her during training. I just don't want to hurt her. She is my best friend and long time crush. She probably thinks that I'm holding back and just going easy on her. I just care about her.

I don't know what I'd do if I lost her. I don't think I could take it. I'd feel worse than when Wally died. I'd probably go in to some emotional black hole, like Bruce did, when he lost his parents. It was like it was the end of him. The end of the meaning of things to him. The end of happiness to him. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be him. I can't as I told Canary after the simulation all those years ago. And that is how I found myself in front of the nearest zeta-tube on my way back to the Watchtower to return to the Team. The bottom line is that I can't live without Barbara. I won't let my feelings get in the way of that. I walk through the zeta-beam. As I feel that familiar tingle, I rethink why I'm doing this. When I get there I realize it's too late to turn back, as she's already there. She standing in front of the holographic screen with multiple windows open.

"Babs?" I question. Just to make sure it's my best friend I haven't seen in ages. She doesn't even flinch. Maybe she didn't hear me. Although, I think I said loud enough. It's possible she doesn't believe what she's hearing. I know Babs. I can read her like a book. And she can me. "Babs?" I say again, slightly louder. Just in case. She spins around quickly, that anyone unlike her would fall over. She stands there, staring at me for god knows how long, not believing it's really me. For a while there's nothing but silence between us, until she breaks it. "Dick? Is that really you?" she says slowly, still in disbelief. She takes a step towards me. I nod my head and do the same. She closes the only space between us and pulls me into a tight hug. She hugs me like she hasn't seen me in forever. Which is partly true. She hugs me like she doesn't want to let go in fear of me leaving again. I hug her back just as forcefully. But I'm here to stay.

For good. I don't want to leave her again. I don't know what will happen the next time I do. We break apart and she speaks again, "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming back for a while." I'm gad that I came back. And that Babs isn't mad at me. But, knowing her for so long I don't think that it's like that on the inside for her. I don't like her feeing that way. Let alone being the cause of it. I'm back in her life and I want to make her happy. Because I can't live without her. If I can't confess my love for her then I can certainly be by her side once again. And be her best friend forever more.

**A/N: There's the second chapter. Hope you liked it. I'll begin to write a third chapter. Hope you like my previous stories. Dick X Babs FTW. :)**


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